Feds reverse plans on fixed climbing anchors in wilderness areas

Next summer, climbers in the Cascades will not have to fret over fixing an unsafe anchor in order to secure a rope to the side of a mountain. Last Wednesday, the National Park Service withdrew a proposal that would have established regulations governing the installation and replacement of climbing anchors, spurred in part by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

Separately, Congress passed the Protecting America’s Rock Climbing Act on Thursday, which declares that fixed anchors used by climbers to ascend and descend rock walls — including bolts, pitons and slings — are allowed in federal wilderness areas.

Taken together, the moves are a year-end victory for climbers as sweet as any summit.

“Protecting sustainable wilderness climbing access also protects America’s climbing legacy and the sense of awe that calls us to these amazing places,” said Erik Murdock, deputy director of climbing advocacy group Access Fund, in a statement.

At issue was a proposal floated in November 2023 by the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, which oversee most federally designated wilderness areas. The land management agencies wanted to formalize the installation and maintenance of equipment used on federal lands and require an administrative process to put in or replace anchors. (The U.S. Forest Service has not yet issued a final decision on its fixed anchor proposal.)

Climbing advocates worried that would result in these tools being designated as “installations,” which are federally prohibited. They argued this would endanger climbers, reversing precedent that predates the landmark Wilderness Act of 1964.

While fixed anchors in wilderness areas are relatively rare, they are deployed for critical safety needs, like rappels.

Betsy Roblee, advocacy and conservation director for The Mountaineers, gave the example of Unicorn Peak in Mount Rainier National Park. The outing club frequently sets that peak as an objective that students must meet to graduate from the basic alpine climbing class. A long-standing rappel anchor at the top allows climbers to descend safely. Under the now-rescinded proposal, if a Mountaineers trip leader or Mount Rainier National Park climbing ranger were to reach the summit and determine that the anchor needed to be replaced or substituted, they would need to fill out paperwork.

“With the proposed guidance, you were out of luck,” Roblee said. “If you reach the top and replace the anchor, you’re breaking the law.”

In September, Cantwell and Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas recruited a dozen bipartisan colleagues to sign on to a letter “express[ing] concern” over the proposed guidance.

Meanwhile, the Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act was bundled into a larger bill called the EXPLORE Act. The suite of legislation also aims to expand broadband and cell service in national parks, identify and create more long-distance bike trails, and streamline recreational permitting for outfitters and guides.

All of these components of the newly passed outdoor recreation package will have implications in Washington, but it’s the climbing matter that has had the most resonance here, given the fixed anchor regulation’s potential effect on historic climbs in the North Cascades.

Some wilderness advocates opposed the rock climbing and broadband components of the EXPLORE Act. In a news release, Montana-based Wilderness Watch warned that the rock climbing bill would “deface and degrade wilderness by legalizing the installation of fixed climbing anchors. … Fixed climbing anchors degrade wilderness character through lasting signs of human development and by attracting and concentrating use — at great expense to native plants and animals.”

The future of anchors on many of those climbing routes, first established by pioneers of the sport such as Fred Beckey, has been secured by Congress. But climbers are cognizant of the need to tread cautiously.

“We must exercise restraint, humility and respect as we climb in these amazing wilderness areas,” Access Fund Executive Director Heather Thorne wrote in a statement, “to ensure that they remain accessible for generations to come.”